Today’s recipe is absolutely addicting and very easy to make I love to make a bit more than I need and just freeze the dough and keep for emergency dinner nights.
Kibbeh is very famous across the Levant its basically meat and bulgur wheat dough stuffed with minced meat and pine nuts and its either formed into balls or baked in the oven or cooked with yogurt the variations are endless, which I will be making here, however I love this light and healthy vegetarian recipe and if you haven’t tried it I am telling you it is a must!!
Toward the end of the video am showing you a new way of presenting kibbeh and it looks so cute so stay tuned.
Pumpkin kibbeh dough – Pumpkin Pie
- 1 pumpkin about 4 lbs
- 3 cups of fine Bulgar (It has to be #1 you can get it from any middle eastern store)
- 1 large onion
- 1 medium leek
- 1 tsp mixed Arabic spice
- 1 tsp dry cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp of salt
- 10 sprigs of mint (use the mint leaves)
Pumpkin kibbe stuffing
- Olive oil
- 2 medium Onion
- 1/2 leek
- Spinach
- 1 tbs of Sumac
- 1/2 tbs of 7 Arabic spice
- 1/4 tsp of Citric Acid
- 1/2 tsp of Salt
- 1 Can of chickpeas
- 1/2 cup of walnuts (Optional)
In a large pot cook the chopped pumpkin with a bit of water but make sure not to submerge it.
In a separate pot for the pie filling sweat some onions I also added leeks in olive oil and then add some fresh spinach that I finely chopped the stems but then gave the leaves a rough chop, season with sumac, cinnamon, salt, 7 Arabic spices and citric acid, taste and adjust seasoning then as soon as the spinach starts to wilt remove from heat immediately.
To a big bowl with some fine bulgur wheat add all the pumpkin reserve the liquid as you will use it while working on the kibbeh dough, mix it well and allow the bulgur to puff up and soften while soaked with the pumpkin.
In a food processor add the onions and finely chop them then add the fresh mint, to this mixture start adding the pumpkin and bulgur mixture and work it in batches while also seasoning, I usually taste it for seasoning, and then add to your liking,
If you find the kibbeh dough to be a bit dry keep adding the pumpkin liquid as it will help it blend.
Now in a well oiled pan spread the dough in patches and then start connecting them by massaging the dough with the tip of your fingers, if you feel at any point your dough is getting dry try putting some water on tip of your fingers when you are leveling the kibbeh dough.
Now add the spinach and chickpeas mixture and cover the top with the remaining dough.
Now add some extra virgin olive oil and be generous, put in a preheated 450 F oven for 30 minutes then once its nicely browned just broil the top to give it a nice color and serve.
For an alternative presentation I used a brownies cake pan using the remaining kibbeh dough (I thawed it and kneed it for 1 minute with a bit of water), lightly oiled the pan and added some parchment paper in case they got stuck and for easy removal but thankfully the didn’t stick, also this time I added walnuts to the stuffing and to the top as decoration.
Hope you try this delicious recipe and would leave a comment.
Procrastinator Cook 